i took this picture the weekend of my family reunion down in banks, alabama. erin and i happened upon it for reason's i cannot remember. i took a couple of pictures of this once gas station. since then i have seen it in my iphoto over and over again. similar to lectio, i started thinking (chewing) on this picture and why i took it (originally i took it cause i thought it would make for a cool photo). at one point in time this was a gas station which had names, faces, families, stories, & friendships attached to it. like many small town stores you know who was behind the counter, they knew you & everything about you. like many of these spaces of americana, they are now extinct. the building of super highway systems has made this drive through the eastern alabama countryside obsolete. now we need to know how close the local fast food establishments and gas stations are to the interstate so that we can keep to our streamlined journey. if the gas station doesn't have pay-at-the-pump we have to move on to the next place (god forbid they don't take an atm card). something gets missed here though........
we miss the names of the people on our journey, faces of people past and present, faces of emotion, families that bring us to adulthood, families that take us in when we are in need, stories of life experiences shared and owned, and friendships that reach deep within our souls all because we have lost our local convenience store. the parallel i want to draw here is that we are quickly streamlining our churches and spiritual lives into this same cultural paradigm.
i want a big church where i can get my God, some bible study, and a blessing in one hour. i want the options of choosing between value class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and i want them without that guy who really bugs me. i eat the food given to me, i nod "hey" to the guy in the bathroom (big bathroom foul), grab a coffee and head back out on the road of life without truly being refreshed. such is the construct of the mega church, or as i have sometimes referred "six flags over Jesus." churches have recognized the need for these longings of names, faces, families, stories, & friendships it is why there is such a trend for creating "small groups." why though, do churches still strive & compete to be so large in numbers that they intentionally have to divide their community? will there be a day when the small church is embraced again as viable and alive where people can come and experience the unique community of Christ? will there come a time where deep relationships are forged over sacred space and generations of time, instead of drive by pick-up meal? or will the ministries of people and church that are based on these elements of relationships become as extinct as this gas station.
